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When the greatest NHL defenceman of all-time watches Erik Karlsson, he is reminded of the best of the best ... guys like Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe, Denis Potvin, Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque.

Former Boston Bruins great Bobby Orr, No. 4, told the Ottawa Sun in an exclusive interview the sky is the limit for the 21-year-old Karlsson.

“I watch the Senators often,” said Orr, who turns 64 Tuesday and is president of the Orr Hockey Group that represents Jason Spezza. “I see a lot (in Karlsson). (Just) the way this kid skates. There’s nothing like a powerful skater. You can go back over the years: Coffey, (Bourque), Potvin ... these guys could motor. They had great speed.

“This kid has wonderful speed. Great, great hockey sense. He’s not big at all. Two games ago I looked at him and I thought, ‘Holy crap, he looks like a teenager,’ or maybe it’s me getting old. He’s not a huge kid, but he’s very intelligent and very smart on the ice.

“He positions himself well. He’s unbelievable and uncanny with the stick. He pokechecks, he’s got great reach and even just shooting from the point, he gets the puck on the net. “All the good teams that have won, they’ve all had that guy on the point: (Nicklas) Lidstrom, (Zdeno) Chara. In the old days with Robinson, Savard, Lapointe, Potvin and Coffey. He’s that kind of player. He is that important to the Senators.”

Orr doesn’t believe Karlsson would be having this kind of success if Ottawa coach Paul MacLean didn’t take off the leash and let the youngster play to his strengths.

“I want to say one thing about the coach and whoever is allowing him to do this and I’ve been saying this forever: You get a guy who can skate like that, let him go, for gawd’s sakes,” said Orr.

“He’ll get caught. I got caught. The players understand how he plays. They accept it. He’s fast enough to get back a lot of times. You have kids coming along where (the coach says) shoot the puck up the glass and shoot it in.

“The coach is letting (Karlsson) do it and since they’ve allowed him to do it, this kid has been unbelievable. But, let him do it. That’s how he is most effective. Is he gonna make mistakes? Yup. Is he gonna get caught? Yup. But the pluses are going to outweigh the minuses.

“There are probably some coaches who wouldn’t let him go like he does. They let me go. They let Coffey go. I couldn’t imagine playing any other way and I can’t imagine young Erik playing any other way, either.”

The biggest difference Orr has seen in Karlsson’s game is maturity.

“His whole game has changed. He’s probably more conscious of his own end than he’s ever been,” said Orr. “He gets to the puck, he gets the puck on his stick and there are no worries. That is the kind of player he is.

“The best defence is to get the puck and he gets it. He moves it as well as anybody. The forwards on Ottawa have to say, ‘Whew, that’s great, we know we’re going to get it. We know it’s coming.’ He was aware of his minus last year and he really made great strides in the defensive zone.”

Orr is a huge fan of youthful innocence and exuberance. He views Karlsson as somebody who is only going to get better.

“He’s 21 ... hello! He’s going to get bigger, stronger, faster and smarter, which will make him a better player,” said Orr. “He’s loving the game right now. You just watch him and you know he’s loving the game.

“You just let him play. It’s like my friend (Spezza), he has a love and passion for this game. We have to keep that in our players. Making (Karlsson) sit back isn’t going to make him happy. When I was playing, if they told me I couldn’t skate over centre ice, I wouldn’t have been happy. I didn’t want to play like that. Can you imagine Coffey being told not to cross centre ice or shoot it off the glass? Are you kidding me?”